Anomaly
by Vjosa
Summary: Penelope Bennet thinks that Remus Lupin hates her. What she doesn't know is that he finds it impossible to hate her, and that leaving her alone has become all but impossible. RL/OC
1. What is In a House?

_**Anomaly  
**__chapter one – what is in a house?_

_  
__is there anyone going to listen to my story  
__all about the girl who came to stay  
__she's the kind of girl you want so much  
__it makes you sorry  
__still you don't regret a single day  
_-_**The Beatles, **_**Girl**

My name is Penelope Bennett, and I don't matter much. No, I am not one of those weird self deprecating people, and I'm not trying to be humble… but I do like to tell the truth. I am a hufflepuff, not a brave little Gryffindor, or an obnoxiously smart Ravenclaw, or even one of those blood obsessed Slytherins. Just a quiet little Hufflepuff, passing through Hogwarts and as inconsequential to the grand scheme of things as a leaf, blown along by an autumn breeze. We Hufflepuffs tend to be like that, no body really pays a lot of attention to us except other Hufflepuffs. Most people seem to think there were only three houses, and then there was an overflow of students, and the fourth house was created for those students who were left over; that didn't quite fit into any of the other categories.

Ironically enough, this seems to be _why _we were sorted into the least known of all the houses. Everyone in my dorm seems not to mind that no one really knows who they are. Everyone is at peace with who they are and their position in the school, with the fact that they were not exemplary enough to be in one of the other houses.

That's that makes us… us.

We try to be at least cordial to everyone, loyal to our friends (the most noted Hufflepuff trait), and quietly amiable while carrying on our daily activities. We don't like to get caught up in the drama of the rest of the school. It's not us versus them, or them versus us, but more them versus them, and we sit on the sidelines and watch.

I like to pretend that I am a simple, typical Hufflepuff. That the constant "Penelope who's" don't get to me. And to an extent they don't. I like to brush it off that most people know me as 'the Puff with the dark hair and long legs' and those who have a vague inclination of who I am think my name is _Penny, _a nickname I detest. But after a while, it begins to irk me.

This is another little thing that I like about my house; we know who people are. We are the quiet observers of the school, we notice everything that goes on around us. We don't find anything to below us to notice, and so we take everything in and store it in our minds. At least I do. I find myself remembering just about everything I see or hear. In spite of myself, I could tell anyone who wanted to listen who Sirius Black's latest fling was, who he cheated on her with, and how long she stayed with him while he was cheating on her with said girl.

I am not quite the typical Hufflepuff, though, no matter how much I would like to be.

I have most of the traits; I'm a nice enough person, I don't judge, and I don't think that my amounts of 'bravery' or 'intelligence' are any greater than anyone else's. I don't have particularly strong feelings about anyone at the school, no hatred, no pining, no limitless devotion. I'm pretty much neutral about everyone I come across, except of course, the members of my family. I have two at the school, my twin sister Prudence, and my little brother Edmund.

My twin and I really have nothing in common, except our looks. Our appearances aren't just similar, they're identical. If you thought people were confused when they first met me and had no idea when they met me, imagine the looks on their faces when they realize there's another one of me. If they took the time to get to know us, they would realize just how different we really are. Like yin and yang, peanut butter and jelly… we are so different, and yet we go together like peas and carrots. She's my best friend, and our differences only serve to make us closer. Most of the time.

She is much quieter than I am, truly a sweetheart, and cares for everyone as if they were her best friend in the world. I sometimes think she is in capable of thinking badly about anyone. She has this weird thing where she sees the good in everyone, no matter how impossible it seems.

And I… well I'm, as I said before, the complete opposite. I'm very outspoken when I don't like someone. I don't like to judge people unless they have done something to me personally, but when it just so happens that someone does get on my nerves, they will know it. I rant a lot as well, in case you couldn't tell, and only the calm and patient persona of Prue can calm me down. There are many times when I find myself growing jealous of her, the way that she doesn't hate people or feel the need to rant and punch pillows, but then I remember- I got the better name.

It's a small bit of consolation, but honestly; how much better is Penelope than Prudence? A lot, and that's what keeps me from resenting her perfect-ness.

We are the middle of four children in our family, our younger brother Edmund is in fifth year, and our older brother Louis. Prue prefers our younger brother, doting on him and helping him get along in the school as Hufflepuff. I, however, prefer my older brother. He was a Gryffindor like our father, but I don't see the arrogance in him that I see in most of the Gryffindors I know now. He is genuinely brave and virtuous, and while he is a little overprotective of me and Prue, I like the fact that he is looking out for me.

Currently he is in training to become an auror, a profession that scares our mother to death. She thinks that he is going to get himself killed fighting the forces of darkness, as I like to call them. That's another thing I admire in Louis, he doesn't fear death. He isn't afraid of anything really; maybe it has something to do with the fact that he's six feet tall, with arms thicker than my entire body (he's intimidating and he knows it). People take one look at him and run.

Just like I differ from my sister personality wise, me and my brother are complete opposites physically, and in more ways than he's a boy and I'm a girl. He's got thick, wavy, light brown hair, and I've got thin, bone strait black hair. He's one big muscle and built like a brick wall, and I'm nothing more than a waif with eyes. He's tall, and I'm on the short side of average. I look like my mother, and he's the spitting image of my father. We are as different looking as two siblings can be, but like with my sister, I love him more than anything. Now that he's graduated I don't get to see him much, but he does come to visit on Hogsmeade weekends, and he can even get away with coming up to the school every once and a while.

I have come to the conclusion that I'm really not like anyone. I can't find anyone to compare myself to, no one to relate myself to when describing who I am. I have to stick to what's different about me, how unalike me and my peers are. In a way it's nice, not fitting into a category means not having any guidelines that I have to follow. But there is a little part of me that wants to belong, that wants to feel like I am part of something bigger. Let the records show that Penelope Bennett is her own person. She is her own person, but sometimes she just wants to be like everyone else.

* * *

The first day of classes has always been my least favorite day of the entire school year. I don't particularly like sitting down in class on September the second, and seeing the look on the teacher's faces when they say my name during the role call. There's the classic bewilderment, occasional confusion, and even more rarely, recognition and a smile. This last one is usually from professor Sprout, my head of house and the only teacher who genuinely knows who I am and seems to like me. My favorite reaction happens when I get teachers who had my brother, and loved my brother, and then I am forever known as 'Louis Bennett's little sister. It's smashing.

The first day of seventh year was turning out to be exactly the same as every other year. First period on Monday morning, and the entirety of our NEWT Transfiguration class was lined up against the wall, waiting for our seat assignments. There were roughly fifteen of us from all different houses, and me, my sister, and Amos Diggory were the only Hufflepuffs. I was praying to sit with Prudence, or at least Lily Evans, the only Gryffindor who I had ever had a more than three word conversation with. She was very nice with a bit of a temper, which was why I liked her.

There were two people to a table, so Professor McGonagall was walking along the rows of tables and pointing to each table in turn, reading off the names of the pair that would sit there for the rest of the year. I sighed as Prudence was paired off with Narcissa Black, someone I had pegged for brain-dead in our first year. Knowing Prue when we left the class she would have something positive to say about her experience, like Narcissa has pretty hair, or something to that effect. Lily was put with Amos, and I was not the only one who looked disappointed.

James Potter, who has been head over heals in love with Lily Evans since first year, was glaring daggers at Diggory. I felt sorry for the guy; it wasn't like he had chosen his seat. The next table was directly behind them, and I heard my name. "Miss Bennett, and Mr. Lupin. You will sit here, if you please."

I looked around at Remus Lupin, who's face had turned even more pale than it usually was. He was sick more often than not, and every once and a while he looked as though he could drop dead at any moment. This was one of those times. I had no real opinion of Remus Lupin strictly because I knew very little about him. I knew that he was taller than his three best friends, that his mother was very ill and he went to visit her once or twice a month, pretty good looking, and that he was a prefect.

So basically, I knew nothing.

I sat in the seat that was assigned to me, then looked around to find that Remus hadn't moved, and was still standing against the wall looking pale and sickly. His hand was in the air soon, and McGonagall looked at him inquisitively. "Why haven't you taken your seat, Mr. Lupin?"

"I-I was wondering if I could switch places, professor, with Nott." His voice was smooth and deep, and under any other circumstances I would have found it very attractive. I saw him look longingly at the place where Theodore Nott was sitting, next to Remus' best friend James. It was understandable that he would want to sit by his best friend, but did he seriously expect McGonagall to let him move next to him. The two would be making things explode, vanish, or change color every day of the week.

"I don't think so, Mr. Lupin. Miss Bennett appears to be in perfect heath, completely free of any contagious or deadly diseases. I'm sure you will survive sitting beside her." The entire class was staring at either me or Remus as he walked slowly over to the empty seat at our table, looking as if he was making his final walk to the gallows. He sat in the chair and proceeded to move it as far away from me as possible, leaning away and scooting to the very edge of the chair. It was then that I realized that it wasn't that he really wanted to sit beside his friend, but that he really _did want_ to sit by me.

Now, I have seen a lot of things in this school. Not a lot of recognition, and a lot of weird looks, but most of the people here seem to be indifferent to me. I'm a Hufflepuff, and it comes with the territory. Never, and I mean never, has anyone really shown a real aversion towards me. No one has ever disliked me without getting to know me… that is, until Remus Lupin came along.

I sat looking at him while the Professor finished the seat assignments, and every once and a while his gaze would flick to me as well. He would glare at me when this happened, and I couldn't help but notice that his eyes were an attractive shade of grayish blue. Once when he was looking in my direction I thought I saw them change color, turn a vicious shade of black. But when I looked again, they were that same blue color again. I brushed it off as my imagination, and turned my attention to the class, trying to ignore the fact that Remus was so deliberately ignoring me.

As hard as I tried, I couldn't concentrate on the lecture on different species transfiguration; turning one kind of animal into another kind. I kept looking over at the boy sitting next to me, at his left fist resting on the table; clenching and unclenching as he took notes. He never relaxed, I realized, his posture was stiff and rigid, and the muscles of his arms I could see because the sleeve of his robe fell back looked tense and perpetually flexed. I had always thought of him as a thin, lanky boy. But now that I sat next to him, I saw that this wasn't necessarily true. Remus Lupin could possibly be very powerful when he wanted to, and almost certainly dangerous.

His strange behavior continued throughout the rest of the class, he didn't give so much as a glance in my direction, no words of greeting, and when our hands accidentally touched when we were reaching for the mice we were supposed to be turning into peacocks, he pulled his hand away like I had burned it. His actions perturbed me; I was pretty sure I didn't smell, and I wasn't carrying some kind of fatal disease as Professor McGonagall so kindly put it, and while I wasn't a curvaceous blonde, I knew that I wasn't that bad looking… so why was he treating me as if I carried the plague?

I grabbed a lock of my hair a sniffed it discreetly. I smelled good enough, like the nondescript fruity shampoo that I had been using for years now. It was a subtle smell, and unless he was allergic to it, I wasn't sure how it could make him look as if he wanted to be as far away from me as possible; anywhere but where he was. Shaking my head, I resolved to stop thinking about it, if he had a problem with me that was something he would have to deal with, and I didn't have to think about it. I hadn't done anything to him, so why should I have to worry?

The bell to end the class came much too soon for me, and I gathered my things and hurried out without a glance backwards. As much as I hate to admit it, I was almost in tears as I made my way down to my underground common room. I knew that Prue was following me, but I didn't stop until I had given the portrait of Helga Hufflepuff the password and flopped down on one of the large couches that littered the common room. I closed my eyes, and heard her enter soon after I did.

She sat beside my head and started to stroke my hair, just like our mum did when we were little and upset about something. "So…" she started, as if unsure what she should say. I was sure she had noticed the exchange between Remus and I; the whole class had noticed. "Did you stab Remus with your quill or something? I've never seen him like that, he's usually so sweet." I shook my head and opened my eyes, looking up into the face that looked exactly like mine.

"I didn't do anything, Prue. Usually I open my mouth before people decide they don't like me"

"I don't think he hates you, Pen… he just doesn't know you." I sighed and closed my eyes. Prue had an annoying habit of thinking the best in every situation, and overlooking people's faults.

"You saw him, he looked as if he was being forced to sit beside a leper. I don't look like a leper, do I?" She laughed and continued stroking my hair. She was older than me by a few minutes, but there were times when I felt she was much older than that, certainly she was much wiser, more mature. Throughout all our years at this school I had always looked to her to be my guide, and to keep me from losing my head at people.

"Of course you don't look like a leper. Perhaps he was just angry that he couldn't sit beside James." I made a non committal noise in the back of my throat, somewhere between a grunt and a sigh. I didn't feel like answering her in words, mostly because I didn't want to disagree with her and start and argument. She always won our arguments. "We have Herbology in half an hour, and you'll be pleased to know that Remus won't be there." I was pleased, I had enough of him already to last a lifetime.

We sat on the couch together for a while in silence. I was brooding on my new found 'friend', and she was still stroking my hair absently looking into the fire. I couldn't help but think that he might not dislike me because of who I was, but rather because of what I was. He was a Gryffindor, easily the most famous and well liked house in the school, and I was a Hufflepuff… a left over. He had never seemed to be the type to look down on people because of their house, unlike a few people I could think of. I had always seen him as fair minded and kind, but perhaps I had been wrong.

Could this perfect prefect really be like all the other people I had come across in my years at this school; convinced that he was better than everyone else just because of where a hat decided he should go? If he was, then he wasn't worth my time or thought. But if this was true, then why, _why_ couldn't I stop thinking about him?

* * *

**A/N: Um, I'm pretty sure you recognized the elements of Twilight in this story, and if you didn't… go read the book, it's very good. Also, I don't own this book, or any part of Harry Potter, the only thing I own is Penelope and her family. **

**Please review, I don't really care if you don't, but it would be nice if you did.**


	2. The Subject Changer Extraordinaire

_**Anomaly  
**__chapter two –_ _Penelope Bennett, subject changer extraordinaire_

Eleanor Rigby died in the church  
and was buried along with her name  
Nobody came  
Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from  
his hands as he walks from the grave  
No one was saved  
All the lonely people  
Where do they all come from?  
All the lonely people  
Where do they all belong?  
-_**The Beatles, **_**Eleanor Rigby**

Seventh year is not getting off to a very good start. First of all, I've got this strange Remus Lupin guy being a total and complete ass to me, and I've got the worst first day of class schedule going on… except Herbology, that one's good. I had been able to avoid Lupin for the rest of the day after the disastrous Transfiguration class, that is until I came to Potions, my last class of the day.

I was almost late, so close to late that all of the tables were full. All the tables but one. And guess who was at that table? My very best friend, Mr. Lupin himself. He was sitting with Lily Evans and Sirius Black. I hadn't seen Sirius yet that day, and I was hoping that I wouldn't have to. He irritated me with his immaturity, loudness, and his complete disregard of any female who isn't tall and blonde. He had never even glanced at me before, so I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when he grinned at me and beckoned me over.

Reluctantly I headed over to his table, willing to sit with the person who seemed more likely to jump off the astronomy tower than talk to me only because I didn't want to be on my own. So I sat, and for a moment I thought that Remus was going to get up and leave. I was sitting diagonally from him, across from Sirius, and next to Lily. He actually rose a little from his seat, but Sirius put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down.

I sensed that there was something going on that I wasn't aware of, but I wasn't about to ask. Lily turned to me, and was about to open her mouth when Professor Slughorn entered, his large stomach preceding him into the room. I knew I was sitting at a table of Slughorn's favorites; Lily Evans the potions prodigy, Sirius Black the one who excels at everything he does without even trying, and Remus Lupin the quietly brilliant pupil. I was terribly average, and had never received much attention during potions classes.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Remus crossing his arms and facing away from me, trying to avoid looking at me at all. Just as before, I tried to ignore him and pay attention to what the professor was saying. "…Amortentia is possibly the most difficult of all the potions we will be making this year. If you can excel at this, I have no doubt you will excel in my class. Please open your books to page five, and begin. You have one hour."

I had always been good at potions, not amazing like Lily or Severus but fair all the same. I opened my book and I could feel my eyes bug out of my head. The potion wouldn't take very long to make, but there were so many ingredients it made my head hurt. They all had to be added at the precisely right time, stirred a very particular about of times, and I was sure that I would mess it up somehow. I gulped and began cutting up the lavender I was supposed to add first while waiting for the water in my cauldron to boil.

About five minutes in I thought I could feel someone watching me, and I looked up just in time to see Remus look away. He had been looking at me for some reason, possibly trying to find something else wrong with me other than what he had already discovered. With a sigh I returned to my potion, which was turning the light shade of pink it was supposed to be after the lacewing flies I added had stewed for a while. I returned to work and was determined not to look at Remus for the remainder of the class.

Soon the classroom was filled with heavenly smells, and everyone seemed to have relaxed into a dreamy state of mind. Even Remus was staring off into space; the hand that had been clenched on the table was now flat and his posture was slumped and less stiff. It took a few moments of observing him before I remembered that I had vowed not to look at him. I refocused my line of vision and stared at the ceiling instead. My potion began to smell of pine trees and vanilla, mingled with something that smelled a bit like cologne. I knew I had smelled it recently, but I had no idea where.

It took me a second to realize that Professor Slughorn had been walking around the room, observing potions and then vanishing them after he marked them. He was at our table, smiling approvingly down at my potion while he made a note on his clipboard. "Very nice miss…"

"Bennett" I supplied automatically, used to people not knowing my name. It came with the territory of being the awkward and average Hufflepuff girl. He nodded at me, smiling and waving his wand to make my potion disappear. My head instantly cleared, and the warm fuzzy feeling that had come into me when the potion was complete left me and I felt cold and empty inside. As soon as all the potions had been vanished I could see that Remus' posture went back to the way it had been, stiff and tense. He glared over at me, his eyes that cold and piercing blue that I remembered from the first time he looked… or rather, glared at me. Instead of looking away I held his gaze, looking into his eyes with determination until he diverted them, looking instead at the wall behind me.

"How was your summer, Penelope?" I gave a little start as Lily spoke to me, a little surprised that she had chosen to say anything to me instead of Sirius or Remus.

"It's was… interesting, I went to stay with my dad in America, and I must say New York city is the most confusing city I've ever been in… way too many cars. How was your summer?" Before Lily could respond, Sirius spoke.

"Penelope, that's a very nice name… very nice." He was leaning across the table and giving me the smile that I had seen melt many a girl into a pile of goo. I was not one of those girls, and I was not going to melt.

"I suppose so, I guess it's better than Prudence, my twin's name." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Remus' glare intensify. I thought that maybe he was angry with me for taking his friends away, for talking to them. Maybe he thought that whatever I had wrong with me would rub off on them.

"Oh ho, you have a twin do you? Identical?"

"Yeah, why?"

"No reason." He smirked to himself, and then to Remus, who turned his glare to Sirius for a moment, and then turned it back to me. I thought I knew why Sirius liked the fact that I was a twin, but I didn't want to confirm it. He was a well known play boy, and went through girls like he did socks, and I had absolutely no interest in him. I knew that he was a good guy, loyal to his friends and he liked treating people with equality, but I wasn't sure if I could get to know him without him trying to get under my skirt.

"But really, Lily, how has your summer?" Wasn't that smooth? I had always been able to turn a conversation in the direction I wanted it to go, it was one of my special talents. Penelope Bennett, subject changer extraordinaire. Sirius looked a bit put out at being brushed aside, but Lily brightened and began to chatter on about her summer. I felt a little bad a tuning her out, but I had more things on my mind than her trip to Costa Rica.

* * *

Later that night, stressed from my first day of classes, and wanting to get away from everyone, I decided to head to my one and only sanctuary. The library. Since my first year I have always loved the library, it was big, open, quiet, and best of all I knew quite a few people who I didn't want to talk to that wouldn't be caught dead in a library. I picked one of my favorite books, _Emma _by Jane Austen. I loved most of Austen's books, but this one in particular was my favorite. I sat on one of the reading couches, propped up my feet, and allowed myself to be immersed in the world of Emma Woodhouse.

Weather is was minutes or hours later, I couldn't tell, the book was taken from my hands. I looked up to see the handsome smiling face of Sirius Black, dangling Emma just above my head. I have him my best glare and reached for it just as he pulled it a bit higher to make it out of my reach. What made him so comfortable around me that he thought he could take my book and get away with it without me hexing him. Perhaps it was because most girls fell at his feet, and he was used to them giving him whatever he wants.

"Sirius Black, give me back my book." He had never chosen to interact with me before, why did he think he was allowed to goof around with me now?

"What will you do to get it back?" His cheeky grin was annoying, slightly adorable, but annoying nonetheless.

"I'll hex you so you can't walk and then take the book from you by force." His face fell a little bit and all of the sudden he vaulted over the back of the couch to sit by my head. I sat up and leaned over him grabbing my book. Instead of being able to pull away like I had intended, I felt his very large arm wrap around me and hold me to him. He reminded me of my brother in the way that he could overpower me in a second, but I never thought that he would ever hurt me. "What makes you think I want you to be close to me?"

"What girl wouldn't want to be close to me? Just relax, lovely. I want to talk to you about something." What could he possibly have to talk to me about? In spite of myself, I relaxed into his arm and leaned back against his chest. Whatever it was, I was pretty sure he wasn't here to spite or hurt me, so I was going to listen. I liked to give people fair chances.

"Talk away then." I found the page of the book I had been in, marked it, then closed the book again. I planned to go back to reading as soon as he told me what he needed to tell me.

"I want to know why Remus dislikes you so much. Did you do something to upset him or something? Remus isn't the type to hate on someone for no reason." My heart stopped for a second. His best friend was asking me what _I_ did to _him_? I wanted to know that very thing, what had a I done to offend him?

"Why don't you ask him? He's the one who has the problem, not me." I crossed my arms and huffed, why did he automatically assume this was my fault?

"I did ask him, I saw him going all 'if looks could kill' on you, and I wanted to know why… especially because we don't know you. He really didn't open his heart up to me, if you know what I mean." Alright, I really didn't know how to respond to that, so I decided to employ one of my other many talents. I was going to wing it.

"I honestly don't know what I did to offend him, unless he finds me particularly ugly or something. Or maybe I smell bad. Do I smell bad?" I felt him lean down and press his nose into my hair, and I sunk deeper into the couch to get away from him.

"I promise you, you are one of the most un-ugly girls I know. And you smell rather delicious."

"Okay, well then why does he hate me? I haven't said two words to him since fifth year when I asked to borrow a quill in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Maybe I made him mad because I didn't return it… he's holding a grudge or something." I didn't know quite why I was so comfortable talking to him. There was something about him that made me feel comfortable. Safe. Maybe that 'love me' vibe was what made all the girls in the school swoon all over the place when he came near them. It didn't make me swoon, though, just comfortable.

"Yeah, that's it. You'll forever be the quill stealer in his mind, you little thief." He pressed a finger into my side, making me squeal. I was extremely ticklish on almost every part of my body, and I really didn't want him to discover it. I had a feeling he would be the kind of person to exploit it. "I guess I'll have to talk to him, then. You don't seem like a bad enough bird, likeable even."

"Well, if you find me likeable then he just must be off his rocker to dislike me." I tried to drip sarcasm from my words, a little resentful that he felt he had to deem me 'likeable.' I didn't need the great Sirius Black to validate my existence, thank you very much.

"That's what I'm saying! Finally, someone who understands!" I turned around a little bit and smacked him on the chest. He really was slightly adorable, almost so much that it over road the annoying… almost. I was beginning to like him, or at least value him as a very large, warm, and comfortable body pillow.

"Honestly, though, did he say anything to you about me?" My curiosity was getting the better of me, and I was wondering, what, if anything, my 'admirer' was telling his closest friends about me. I didn't know why I should be concerned what the thought, we had never really been close before; maybe it was because no one has ever really hated me before. I had seen indifference, curiosity, unrecognizing stares… but never the glare that Remus Lupin gave me when we first made eye contact. I didn't like the feeling, mostly because I didn't think I had earned the amount of animosity he had for me.

"Nothing, really. I asked him after potions why he was giving you looks of death, and he didn't mention the quill thing… he just said that you rubbed him the wrong way. Then I told him that I thought you were an alright looking bird, and I didn't understand, and he seemed to get mad at me, then he stormed off. More mood swings than a pregnant woman, that one." I considered Sirius for a moment, trying to sus out weather or not he was telling the truth. He had an honest face, if that was possible, it felt like whatever came out of that face could be trusted, and was the truth. This guy has natural talent coming out of his ying-yang.

Don't ask me what a ying-yang is, because I don't know.

"That sounds like a riveting conversation, though I don't exactly know how I feel about being referred to as a 'bird.' So he really didn't give you a reason? Oh well, maybe it's just his time of the month or something." Sirius spluttered and I looked up at him to see him looking down at me with a sort of indignant curiosity, like what I had said had a whole new meaning to him. "Remus isn't secretly a girl, is he?"

"No, at least I don't think so. I don't have any proof to the contrary, though… I really should get around to asking James. It would explain a lot." Sirius chuckled and pushed my hair away from my neck, playing with the loose strands absently. I couldn't help finding it strange that two people who had never had a proper conversation with each other before could be so comfortable with each other in a matter of minutes. It was like we had known each other all our lives, and were having one of the many conversations that made up our long relationship.

"And if you have no proof, how would James have proof?" I looked up at him again, and he dropped me a wink. I really wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answer to the question, but it had already been asked, so there was no stopping the answer.

"The only answer I have for you is that it involved a lot of firewhiskey, a long game of strip poker, and Peter standing on the table singing Hotel California while playing the drums on his stomach. James woke up that morning suddenly very aware of Remus'… masculinity if you will." I felt him shudder and couldn't blame him. It sounded like one of those incidents that would be fun at the time, but you would wake up thinking 'what the hell did I do last night, and why is the name Bubah tattooed across my bicep?' Nothing like that would ever happen in the Hufflepuff common room, there was a lot of studying, reading, and maybe a chess game or two. No drunken games of strip poker, or renditions of Hotel California.

We were too normal and boring for that.

I was beginning to think that Sirius' bad boy attitude and womanizing exterior was all a façade. On the inside he seemed to be just a giant, loveable teddy bear. I felt the sudden urge to hug him, which I resisted. I didn't resist the feeling, however, that I was actually going to like Sirius Black.

* * *

**A/N: yeah, mostly an intro to Sirius' character in this one. A bit more interaction with Remus, but not a lot. Sorry if it was boring, but I had to lay the groundwork for the next chapter, and for Pen and Sirius' relationship.**

**I don't own Harry Potter, or anything associated with the books or movies. I only own Penelope and her family. Please don't sue me, because you won't get much. I am very poor. **


End file.
